


Live Together/Die Together

by Heresetrash



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fake Character Death, Fix-It, M/M, TRoS Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:01:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21917218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heresetrash/pseuds/Heresetrash
Summary: Hux and Kylo make plans to fabricate their own deaths to survive the war.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 24
Kudos: 216





	Live Together/Die Together

**Author's Note:**

> I told myself and everyone I wasn't going to write a fix-it fic, but here we are ;)

“It’s going to be extremely risky,” Kylo told Hux in a hushed tone of voice. Bodies pressed close, Hux could feel how tense he was.

It was the first time they were alone together in almost a month. They simply couldn’t afford to meet like this very often anymore. Even in Kylo’s - the Supreme Leader’s - quarters, they weren’t safe. Nothing was safe with the return of Emperor Palpatine and his puppet Allegiant General Pryde at the helm of the Final Order.

“I don’t care,” whispered Hux through gritted teeth. “I will take whatever risk needed for us.”

Kylo’s signature frown deepened and he locked eyes with Hux when he asked: “Even dying?”

Defiantly, Hux tilted his chin up and said: “We either live together-"

"Or we die together,” finished Kylo.

If they were lucky, they would survive. If not, they would die, which wasn’t the worst outcome given the circumstances. As it were, Hux would much rather die staying true to himself then bow to the old imperials. He detested the Empire. The Empire was his father, both which were archaic and obsolete. Unlike his father, however, it refused to stay dead.

Kylo pressed his lips against Hux’s, needy and desperate as if afraid that this was the last time they would ever share a kiss. Hux allowed himself to revel in the display of affection for a short moment, etching the sensation and taste of Kylo’s soft lips into his memory before reluctantly pulling away.

“I should go.”

As he turned to leave, Kylo grabbed his wrist, squeezing it almost painfully. Hux gave him a questioning look.

“Hux, I-” Kylo tried, but his words failed him. However, he didn’t need to say anything. The look in his eyes spoke clearly enough.

Nodding, Hux replied, “I know.”

* * *

Hux never thought the day would come when he would betray the First Order. He had worked diligently and tirelessly for decades to help build it from the ground up, only for it to fall into the greedy imperial-brainwashed hands of Pryde. He didn't care what happened to the Order now. He didn't care what happened to the Resistance. He didn't care who won or lost. He only cared about getting himself and Kylo out before it was too late.

Planning the fabrication of their own deaths was the easy part. Going through with it was an entirely different matter as they were dependent on not just careful preparation, but also a certain amount of luck. And truthfully, Hux was worried. Not so much for himself, but for Kylo. He was worried Kylo wouldn’t be able to pull it off. He needed to get the scavenger girl to trust him and work together with him. That was difficult enough considering their encounters so far. But even if he managed to do that, who was to say the two would be able to take Palpatine down? What if the scavenger girl wasn’t as strong as Kylo claimed her to be? Even worse, what if Kylo wasn’t.

These thoughts hounded Hux, but as much as they did, he couldn’t afford to let them get to him. He hated that he couldn't completely control the situation, but he should know by now that he had no choice but to trust Kylo and his powers, even if he still didn’t understand them. As much as he wanted to, there was nothing he could do for Kylo. He had to do this on his own.

In comparison, Hux’s task was child’s play. All he had to do was to leak information to the Resistance about Palpatine's return and eventually make Pryde realise he was a spy. Having known Pryde from childhood via his father, Hux knew exactly which traces to leave behind to allow himself to get caught. And for once, one of his father’s friends believing he was a spineless bastard would work in his favour.

* * *

Hux and Kylo had to avoid one another. The few times they were in the same room, they couldn't show any sort of familiarity or emotion towards each other. Thankfully, Hux was well versed in the art of suppressing and hiding his emotions. There was a time when he had greatly despised Kylo and he could tap back into that. Kylo was not like that. He was practically incapable of hiding his emotions - they were constantly on display. But he was erratic and that was his strength. People were terrified of his unpredictable rage and he and Hux could use that to their advantage.

"There is a spy in our midst," Kylo said as he slammed the severed head of a male Ovissian onto the conference table. An Ovissian Hux happened to be rather familiar with. It was too bad he had to die, but his job was done and Hux and Kylo needed to make it clear as starlight that there was a spy among them.

No one said anything. No one moved. Hux could see a couple of the other officers fighting back their disgust at the severed head.

“I sense unease about my appearance, General Hux,” Kylo continued. He spoke slowly through the vocoder in his newly reforged helmet. Hux had always hated that helmet. To him it looked ridiculous. All it did was diminish the man inside it. But to others it was intimidating, as clearly proven by the stiff postures and downcast gazes of the other high-ranking officers assembled around the table.

They had agreed on this. Kylo would pick on Hux to draw attention to him, and hopefully Pryde would fall for it.

Hux looked straight at Kylo. Behind the mask, he knew Kylo was looking back at him with those intense dark eyes of his. He could feel it. It was a light tickle at the back of his neck that made his hair stand on edge and it almost made him shiver. He shifted slightly in his seat, blinking twice, both movements that could easily be mistaken for nervousness. “About the mask?" he quietly responded. "No, Sir. Well done.”

He deliberately avoided Pryde's gaze from the other side of the table, but out of the corner of his eye, he could see him zeroing in on him.

Good. Having Pryde suspicious was exactly what he wanted.

* * *

When Chewbacca - the wookie that used to fly with Han Solo - was captured, Hux could hardly believe his luck. He knew the Resistance would want him back and he and Kylo could surely help them with that by making certain the star destroyer was in a suitable place at a suitable time for them to board it. Which, of course, they did, inevitably ending up as prisoners for Hux to help escape.

Revealing his identity as the spy to Resistance agents Dameron, Chewbacca and the former stormtrooper was rather glorious. Just a few well-placed blasts in the accompanying troopers that were there to execute them and he had bought him their trust. At least temporarily, which was all he needed.

Being shot wasn't a particularly pleasant experience, but it was necessary to prove a point to Pryde. Being shot by a stormtrooper deserter - who not only shot him, but shot him in the leg - was adding insult to injury. Hux had just saved their pathetic lives and helped them escape, and the scum couldn't even do as asked and shoot him in the arm. In that moment, Hux had to remind himself why he was doing what he was doing or else he would have spoiled the entire plan and blown the deserter's brains out on the spot.

Limping onto the bridge with a poorly dressed leg wound after and giving Pryde the news that the prisoners had escaped, resulted in what Hux had hoped for. Pryde had finally understood that Hux was the double-crossing traitor in their ranks and proceeded to shoot him on the spot. Right in the chest. It hurt like hell and the blast was so forceful Hux was knocked back several feet and passed out. To anyone on the bridge he looked dead. He _was_ dead, just as long as they didn't check his pulse.

* * *

Hux groaned as his eyes flickered open to a poorly lit cabin. He was on his back on a narrow cot, only covered by a thin blanket that wasn't up to the task of keeping him warm. He shivered.

"Easy, sir," came a gentle voice to his left. Turning his head, Hux found Mitaka sitting there with a slight frown and concerned brown eyes.

There weren’t many officers left that Hux trusted was still loyal to him, but he didn’t need many and as long as Mitaka was still around, Hux knew that he had an ally he could bring into his carefully crafted plan.

Realising he was barely in any pain, Hux's hands came up to feel his own chest. His uniform had been removed along with the protective armour he had been wearing underneath. In their place was a bacta patch. Lifting the blanket that was covering him, he found that the previously poorly bandaged leg wound had also been patched with bacta. Mitaka had done a good job of taking care of him.

"How are you feeling, sir?" Mitaka asked.

With only minor difficulty, Hux was able to sit himself up on the cot. "I'm fine," he replied. "Was there any trouble?"

"None, sir, everything went smoothly, just as we planned."

Mitaka had known everything and he had done the things that Hux couldn't do without raising the wrong sort of suspicion. He had gathered three other loyal officers who had all been present during Hux's apparent assassination by Pryde. They had helped carry him away from the bridge and bring him to this isolated part of the ship.

"How long was I out?"

"Not long, sir. It's been" - Mitaka pulled up his left sleeve to reveal his chrono - "48 minutes."

"Good," nodded Hux. "Has the ship moved?"

"Yes, sir. We're above Exegol."

"So we're in the lair of the beast itself," Hux practically hissed. It wasn't a place he wanted to be, but it was the place they needed to be.

Mitaka nodded.

"And Ren. Where is he?"

Mitaka swallowed and quickly licked his lips. "I'm sorry, sir, I'm not completely sure."

There was an immediate sting of worry in Hux's chest, but he straightened his back, refusing to let fear take over. This was not the time for doubt. "He has to be down there," Hux spoke firmly, more to convince himself than Mitaka.

"There's more, sir," continued Mitaka. "The Resistance are here too, to Allegiant General Pryde's great surprise. It's no doubt thanks to you. The fighting has just begun."

Hux couldn't hold back a smirk at that. Knowing that Pryde had been blindsided pleased him greatly. But it meant that time was short. "I need to get down there. Is the escape pod ready?"

Mitaka was immediately on his feet. "Yes, sir. And here are your new clothes."

Hux accepted the black deck technician uniform. He had chosen that particular uniform because he wouldn't stick out but most importantly because the uniform had a helmet. It would be impossible for anyone to recognise him moving from the cabin to the escape pod. He quickly changed into his new garments and followed Mitaka to the escape pod that had been readied for him.

"Good luck, sir," Mitaka told him.

"Thank you," replied Hux, one leg already inside the escape pod. He should leave it at that. There was no place for emotion between him and Mitaka, but Mitaka had been with him for years as an invaluable asset - his loyalty never wavering - and frankly, he deserved more. Retreating his leg from the pod again, Hux removed his helmet. He straightened his back and folded his hands behind it, taking a familiar at ease stance. Mitaka immediately followed his lead.

"You have served me well all these years," Hux told him. "You have been an excellent lieutenant."

"It's been an honour and privilege to serve you, sir," Mitaka replied, his chin proudly held high.

With a final nod at his lieutenant, Hux stepped into the escape pod. A mere moment later he had detached himself from the ship and was on his way down to the surface of Exegol. Somewhere on the bridge, an alarm would go off about an escape pod that had left without permission, but Hux counted on the ongoing battle being enough of a distraction for anyone to take notice.

Moving away from the star destroyer towards the planet surface, Hux got his first look at the Final Order fleet. He almost gasped when he saw it. Born and raised in the military, he had seen his fair share of large fleets, but this was insanity. There were so many ships he could barely even see the sky above them. The smaller Resistance ships buzzing and whizzing between them would be no match for them. This battle would be over in no time if they didn't get reinforcements and if Kylo and the scavenger girl didn't destroy Palpatine.

Hux was usually prepared for the worst and he thought he had prepared himself sufficiently this time as well. He didn't know what he had expected, but this looked so much worse than he had predicted. Could Kylo really do this?

Hux landed the escape pod close to the enormous structure that Kylo had described to him as Palpatine's secret lair. The desert ground crackled with electricity as he walked, small lighting strikes shooting up around him. Outside the compound, Hux spotted a TIE fighter and the tension in his shoulders eased just a little. At least that meant that Kylo was here. Next to the TIE fighter was another ship, one Hux had never seen before. He hoped that meant that Kylo had been successful and that the scavenger girl was here too.

Palpatine's stone fortress was more like a temple than anything else. Looking around him as he ventured deeper into the structure, Hux realised it was ancient and he wondered just how long it had been there.

The walk through the temple seemed endless and as he walked, the structure shook, more and more violently by the minute. Something was happening - something bad - and Hux couldn't free himself of the thought that it had something to do with Kylo.

He picked up his speed, breaking into a run until he stumbled and almost fell over a large black bundle lying on the dusty ground. Hux's heart jumped into his throat at the sight, certain it was Kylo, but when he looked closer he saw that the clothes and the armour were all wrong. The mask too. This was not Kylo. This was a knight of Ren. Looking around him, he spotted five more bodies. Six knights of Ren. They were all dead. Killed by - Hux bent down to take a closer look at them - a lightsaber. Had Kylo fought them?

A deafening rumble sounded then as if that of a massive thunderstorm. The ground shook as rocks collapsed and started falling. Spotting a natural nook in the stone wall, Hux dived to cover and protected his head with his arms. As the rocks crashed down around him, he could do nothing but hope that he would survive.

When it stopped, there was an almost unnatural silence. Hux sat still in his small hiding place for a while, making sure it was truly safe, before crawling back out. He coughed at the thick dust swirling in the air and wiped at his brow. It left behind a trace of blood on the back of his hand. He looked at it with mild surprise. He hadn't even noticed he had been hit. But it wasn't a lot of blood and so it wasn't a problem.

As the dust slowly settled, Hux could see that most of the temple structure around him had collapsed and now lay in ruins. Having to climb through the rubble to move forward would slow him down, but it didn't matter how long it took him as long as he found Kylo.

He fought his way through the remains - stepping carefully so he wouldn't slip and fall - until he eventually reached the throne room. Just like the rest of the temple, it was in ruins. There was nothing but dust and debris. Everything was destroyed. Everything but the throne itself. It was still standing, huge and menacing with large tentacle-like stone arms reaching out from it. Greedy tentacles that had tried to get their grip on Kylo.

Kylo.

Hux scanned the room until his eyes landed on a lifeless dark form lying crumpled on the ground away from the throne, and this time there was no doubt in Hux's mind who it was. He would recognise that body anywhere. He had felt it so many times; traced every muscle and every scar; kissed every mole and every inch of skin.

"Kylo!"

Immediately, Hux ran over to him and sank down on his knees next to him. Kylo was heavy - even heavier than normal in this limp state - but Hux managed to roll him over on his back. His head flopped to the side, his eyes closed and lips parted as if he had recently taken his last breath.

No. No-no-no. Not like this.

Not like this.

Grabbing Kylo's shoulders with both hands, Hux shook him, but there was no response. With ragged breath, Hux shook him again - harder this time - but there was no sign of life from Kylo.

Becoming increasingly agitated, Hux couldn't hold back his emotions. He hammered a fist into Kylo's chest as he shouted, "You dare die on me? You bastard!" His other fist was slammed into Kylo's chest as well. "This was not what we agreed on! We either live together or we die together. That's what we said! You do not get to leave me behind, so wake the kriff up!”

This time, both fists hit Kylo's chest, but he still didn't wake up. Shaking with anger and disbelief, Hux slumped on top of Kylo's body.

Kylo still felt strong as if his power hadn't left him. And he was warm to the touch. And - Hux's eyes shot open - his chest was moving. It was weak, but with his chin to Kylo's chest, Hux could feel it rising and falling. He scrambled back up on his knees and moved his ear down to Kylo's mouth. A faint breath ghosted against his skin.

"Kylo," Hux whispered and as he spoke his name, Kylo's breath became stronger and steadier.

"Kylo," Hux spoke again, and at that, Kylo drew a deep breath - almost a gasp - and opened his eyes. He seemed confused, staring at Hux as if seeing a ghost.

"Hux?" he croaked, voice as dry as the dust that had settled around them.

"Yes," Hux told him, his own voice on the verge of cracking too.

Grunting with pain, Kylo managed to sit up. He seemed to have trouble with one of his legs. He also had a bruised left eye and a split lip, but he had never looked more beautiful to Hux.

With trembling fingers Kylo reached out for him and cupped the side of his face. "It's really you," he whispered.

"It's really me," Hux confirmed. Carefully, he took Kylo's face in his hands, leaned in and kissed him deeply. He tried to pour whatever life and love he had inside him into Kylo. He wanted him to feel this moment the same way he did. He wanted him to know how terrified he had been and how relieved he now was.

When they parted, Kylo pressed his forehead against Hux's and a broad smile spread across his face.

"We live together," he said.

**Author's Note:**

> There we go. Fixed! No one dies and kylux are still a happy couple. I'm not sure where they'll go or what they'll do after this, but that's up to you to decide!


End file.
